10 Jan, Tues

Tues, 10 Jan worked most of the day again today, putting a tin roof over another area where the cats are. hopefully they will stay a little drier now. Nicole and i helped Madi move a double bed frame up the stairs to her Mom's place. inside her Mom's room i saw a photo of Madi in a service uniform. she was in the Army for 12 yrs while living in the US. how is it i never knew this? WoW ! i also learned that Madi had found several SeaHorses by her dock and had transported them under the mangrove trees where they would be less likely to be seen .... and harmed. so later in the afternoon, i put on some shoes and walked around the mangrove trees. sure enough .... i saw 5 yellow SeaHorses. 4 were about 3" long, and the other one was only about 2" long. i've only seen a SeaHorse once before and that was while hanging upside down over the side of a dock. i spent a lot of time watching them and trying to photograph them. the reflection of the sun/sky through the trees made it really difficult here is a picture of what i expect a SeaHorse to look like ... tail curled and in an upright position. and ...i had no idea there were YELLOW ones ! but most of the time they were extended and horizontal they are in only about 1 foot of water, and all intertwined in some type of seaweed. since this is a new one for me, i had to look up a few SeaHorse facts: unlike most other fish, they are monogamous and mate for life; AND they are among the only animal species on Earth in which the male bears the unborn young ... how cool is THAT ?

Male seahorses are equipped with a brood pouch on their ventral, or front-facing, side. When mating, the female deposits her eggs into his pouch, and the male fertilizes them internally. He carries the eggs in his pouch until they hatch, then releases fully formed, miniature seahorses into the water. how cute!

Because of their body shape, seahorses are rather inept swimmers and can easily die of exhaustion when caught in storm-rolled seas. They propel themselves by using a small fin on their back that flutters up to 35 times per second. Even smaller pectoral fins located near the back of the head are used for steering.

They anchor themselves with their prehensile tails to sea grasses and corals, using their elongated snouts to suck in plankton and small crustaceans that drift by. Seahorses have no teeth and no stomach. Food passes through their digestive systems so quickly, voracious eaters, they must eat almost constantly to stay alive. they graze continually and can consume 3000 or more brine shrimp per day. they are strange creatures. they just kind of float around. but i did see their head striking out as if they were feeding on something. i took some video and will let you know when i get it posted to You Tube. i also realized, and am sad to report that after one day of snorkeling, my new underwater camera will not turn on :( it would have been perfect for these pictures! i just don't have good luck with cameras :( i'll try again another day when the sun isn't shining ....and i'll get out my underwater housing for my other camera. Amazing! i also spotted a tiny Puffer Fish; about 1" long. you may recall i saw 2 of these when in Roatan last year. those adults were probably 10" long. the 'UN guys' went fishing today and Nicole and i were invited for fresh fish dinner. we arrived at their Hostel and were greated by the 'Madamn' who was really quite unpleasant and indignent. we were not guests of the hostel and we were not allowed in. i understand the need for security, but that was ridiculous. Stefan came down and apolgogized and we had to leave. i had stoppped at my favorite Chinese for fried rice to serve with the fish ... so Nicole and i found a dock out on the water and ate our fried rice. the moon was breathtaking this evening, big and yellow and still low on the horizon. unfortunately, i didn't have a tripod, so this was all i got. you'll have to use your imagination. it really is nice to visit the same place several years in a row. i walked into the Chinese place and the same sweet happy smiling Chinese lady was there. she recognized me and gave me a big hug. that was cool! after Nicole and i ate our'dinner' we walked to Wish Willly's to have a drink. we both ordered and when the hammocks became available, we moved in. Wish Willy came over later and visited with us, and 'bought' us our drinks. it is nice to be remembered :) Nicole leaves on the first taxi to Belize. she is on her way to Tikal for a few days; then back up to Cancun for her journey back home. so tonight was her farewell and she bought a pizza for Madi and her Mom.